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3 Apr 2008 : Column 1307W—continued
NHS Questionnaires
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2008, Official Report, column 2860W, on NHS questionnaires, what the cost of the surveys conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Department was for each of the last 10 years. [196232]
Mr. Bradshaw: The total paid to Ipsos MORI (Market and Opinion Research International) for surveys by the Department from April 2001 to March 2008 is £26,071,628.76.
It would not be possible to discern the specific details of each survey without incurring disproportionate cost.
NHS: Finance
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the NHS underspend was in each of the last three years for which figures are available, broken down by primary care trust. [197923]
Mr. Bradshaw: The net under/overspend reported by the national health service in audited accounts for the years 2004-05 to 2006-07 is provided in the following table. The 2006-07 audited final position for individual NHS organisations, is available in the Library under the title ‘table showing audited figures for the NHS for the financial year 2006-07’. Tables showing the audited financial figures for individual NHS organisations for the years 2004-05 and 2005-06 have been placed in the Library.
| Final accounts under/(overspend) | |||
| £000 | |||
| 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | |
| Notes: 1. Final account figures for 2005-06 include unaudited figures for one NHS trust. 2. Foundation trusts not included. Source: Audited summarisation schedules | |||
NHS: Recruitment
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he has issued to NHS trusts on use of open competition in recruitment of NHS IT personnel. [196391]
Ann Keen [holding answer 25 March 2008]: In line with good employment practice the Department expects that individual national health service organisations comply with the relevant legal requirements in the recruitment of staff.
NHS Employers, the body representing trusts in England on workforce issues, with the agreement of the Department, has recently issued revised guidance “NHS Employment Check Standards”, which outlines the checks employers must carry out for the appointment and ongoing employment of all individuals in the NHS. This does not mandate how employers should undertake the recruitment process, however local NHS organisations
are encouraged to assess their recruitment and selection policies to ensure the processes are not directly or indirectly discriminatory.
NHS: Redundancy Pay
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was paid in severance payments to NHS staff in each of the last five years. [194535]
Ann Keen: The information requested is not collected centrally. The employment of staff, clinicians and managers within the national health service is a matter for individual NHS organisations.
Occupational Health
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has he made of the use of (a) NHS and (b) privately practising occupational health specialists by employers. [197321]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Many larger employers in the private sector provide their own occupational health (OH) services, while other employers buy OH provision from private providers. The national health service, on the other hand, provides the majority of its own occupational health provision with the remainder bought from the private sector. The NHS Plus project, funded by the Department, set up in 2006, has already begun to improve the provision of OH services to both the NHS and Small and medium enterprises in the private sector.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many primary care trusts employ at least one occupational health specialist. [197330]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: This information is not held centrally. However, every primary care trust (PCT) is required to make arrangements for the provision of occupational health specialists support to its directly employed staff. PCTs use one of three models of provision:
directly employed occupational health specialists;
access to occupational health specialists through a contract with another national health service body which provides occupational health services; and
access to occupational health specialists through a contract with an independent provider of occupational health services.
Prescription Drugs: Addiction
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people are receiving treatment for involuntary addiction to legal drugs; and what plans his Department has to tackle such addiction. [195580]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 20 March 2008]: This information is not held centrally.
Primary care trusts are responsible for providing local health services, including addiction services and together with their strategic health authorities are responsible for deciding which services to plan, commission and develop to meet the health needs of their local communities.
Prescriptions
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the use of electronic repeat prescriptions in the NHS. [197337]
Mr. Bradshaw: Repeat electronic prescriptions will be available through the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) once general practitioner and pharmacy information technology suppliers have implemented Release 2 of the EPS which is readily available.
Risks, Rights and Recovery
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the Government will respond to the Mental Health Act Commission report, Risks, Rights and Recovery. [197869]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: We welcome the Mental Health Act Commission's report and commend it to those responsible for the care and treatment of patients under the Mental Health Act 1983. We have noted its recommendations. The Government have not, in recent years, published responses to the Commission's biennial reports and does not propose to do so in this case.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Yorkshire and Humberside
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many sexually transmitted infections were diagnosed in each constituency in Yorkshire and the Humber in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) age group and (b) type of infection; and if he will make a statement. [197426]
Dawn Primarolo: Information on the number of sexually transmitted infections diagnosed in genito-urinary medicine clinics and the National Chlamydia Screening Programme in the Yorkshire and Humber Strategic Authority from 1997 to 2006 broken down by age group and type of infection has been placed in the Library.
X Rays: Maladministration
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who have been mistakenly sent for x-rays or CT scans in each English region in each of the last five years. [195563]
Dawn Primarolo: The requested information for the period between 1 January 2003 and 31 October 2006 is shown in the following table.
| Number of incidents notified under Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations (IRMER) 2000 to Secretary of States’ Inspectors which were classified as patient identification (ID) and referral errors from 1 January 2003 to 31 October 2006 | ||||||||||||||||
| Region | ||||||||||||||||
| Eastern | London | North West | North Yorkshire | South East | South West | Trent | West Midlands | |||||||||
| CT | X-ray | CT | X-ray | CT | X-ray | CT | X-ray | CT | X-ray | CT | X-ray | CT | X-ray | CT | X-ray | |
From 1 November 2006 the Healthcare Commission assumed responsibility for enforcement of the (IRMER) 2000 in the Amendment Regulations of 2006.
In March 2008 the Healthcare Commission published the first report on its activities in this area this included an analysis of the errors that led to patients being exposed unnecessarily to medical radiation.
From 1 November 2006 to 31 December 2007 there were 105 notifications of errors in the referral of patients for diagnostic x-ray, CT scan and other diagnostic radiology investigation.
The following table provides a breakdown by strategic health authority (SHA) area of notifications received from national health service trusts.
| Breakdown by SHA area of diagnostic patient ID error | |
| SHA | Diagnostic patient ID error |
Home Department
Alcoholic Drinks: Prosecutions
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there were for alcohol-related offences in each of the last five years, broken down by (i) region and (ii) offence. [193585]
Jacqui Smith: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given on 20 March 2008, Official Report, columns 1274-78 W.
Alcoholic Drinks: Young People
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of acceptable behaviour contracts in tackling underage drinking; [193575]
(2) how many acceptable behaviour contracts have been issued to teenagers for drinking alcohol underage. [193576]
Jacqui Smith: Data on acceptable behaviour contracts (ABCs) are not collected by the Home Office as they are voluntary agreements and therefore not suitable for central data collection. Surveys carried out by the Home Office of the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) indicated that over 25,000 ABCs have been made since October 2003.
A National Audit Office study in December 2006 found that such interventions were highly effective in combating antisocial behaviour. 65 per cent. of people stopped behaving antisocially after one intervention; 86 per cent. after two; and 93 per cent. after three.
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